NEW TECH: Environmentally minded ingenuity drives the latest business wave to plant its roots in the Bay Area

A couple of key points: “No one knows precisely how many companies are in the green tech universe. But we do have an idea how much money is going into it.

The Cleantech Venture Network tracked $2.9 billion invested within North America during 2006, a 78 percent increase over the previous year. Ernst & Young, which defines the field more narrowly, counted $884 million invested in the United States last year, up 80 percent from $491 million in 2005. “

"Creating the greatest next-generation (Internet) router is a lot less satisfying than creating the technology that will save the planet for your children and their children," said Robb Browne, who runs Ernst & Young's venture capital advisory group.